This invention relates to generally to waste handling and specifically to a system by which roll-off containers may transfer wastes to a rear-load garbage truck.
The present invention is the same device taught in USPTO Disclosure Document 506804, dated Feb. 25, 2002 and date stamped by the OIPE Mar. 5, 2002, to the same inventor, Thomas Reed III, and entitled xe2x80x9cProcess and Apparatus for Transferring Solid Wastexe2x80x9d.
For large quantities of waste, the normal commercial trash container (usually called a xe2x80x9cDUMPSTERxe2x80x9d, this exact mark is registered to Dempster Systems Inc, Knoxville Tenn., having no relationship to the present applicant. Numerous other marks make use of the word xe2x80x9cDUMPSTERxe2x80x9d.) a metal box roughly two meters tall by three meters long by two meters from front to back is quite often inadequate. For example, construction sites often generate waste which is both of considerably greater volume and may be of a size such that one dimension or more will not fit into a standard trash bin.
For this purpose, a large standard size is commonly used, the xe2x80x9croll-offxe2x80x9d container. The roll-off trash container may be the same size as a standard container with the roof and some of the upper walls removed, or may be other sizes normally several times larger than a normal commercial trash bin. The roll-off container is designed so that it may be rolled on and off the back of a specially equipped flat-bed truck. The normal manner of employment of a roll-on roll-off container may be understood by reference to FIG. 1 through FIG. 4 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,332,746, issued Dec. 25, 2001 to Lang et al, a convenient example of the use of a hoist truck. A large truck with a specially equipped hoist backs up to the trash container from one end. The hoist is raised and attached to the container and the container is slowly lifted until it is suspended along the length of the hoist. The hoist/container combination is then lowered back to the bed of the truck. It is significant that the container is thus left on the bed of the truck behind the cab, it is NOT emptied into the truck: the truck has no separate waste holding container. The truck driver drives the truck with the container on its bed to the appropriate sanitary landfill facility for disposal of the waste within the container. Then the driver returns to the work-site and repeats the same process in reverse as he returns the roll-off container to those who require it as a trash receptacle.
There are numerous complications and uncertainties in this process. First and foremost, the roll-off container may be attached at the front end to a building: such an arrangement is common behind supermarkets, department stores and other large establishments. In this case, the driver is forced to perform the following operations: back up to the accessible end of the container, disconnect the roll-off container from the building, hook the accessible back end of the container to the hoist, lift it up or pull it on its rollers, move the truck a short distance, unhook the container from the hoist, drive the truck around and back it up to the front end of the container, hook the front end of the container to the hoist, raise it onto the hoist, lower the hoist to the bed of the truck, and then begin driving the container to the landfill. The entire process must be reversed in order to put the container back in place when the driver returns.
The expensive hoist-equipped truck is not as flexible as the normal rear-load garbage truck: since it has no built in waste container, and compaction blades, it cannot be used in the residential setting; since it also lacks a mechanism for lifting of a conventional commercial waste bin, it cannot be used with such bins.
In addition, while the container is suspended on the hoist above the back of the truck, it is possible for the waste in the container to fall out of the container, resulting in man-hours of clean-up work. Worse, the waste may shift in the container and may conceivably be massive enough to upset the stability of the truck, though this is rare. More commonly, it is necessary to provide special devices on the roll-off hoist truck in order to cover the open container, without such devices the truck may be in violation of the law, may be charged a premium at the landfill facility, or may allow waste to blow out of the container during transit.
In addition, during the period of time when the driver is making the round trip with the container to the landfill and back, the container is unavailable to the end user. Thus the disposal contractor must add to the cost of the hoist truck by committing an empty container to each truck at the start of the day""s route in order to allow xe2x80x9cdaisy-chainingxe2x80x9d of the individual stops on the route. Even then, however, the truck and driver must after each stop on the route make a substantial trip to the landfill. In most major metropolitan areas, the landfills are located at some distance from the city center, thus making for a normally long round trip. Some major metropolitan areas suffer from 24 hour congestion, in which areas the number of runs a single driver can make in a single day may dwindle to a few, or even one.
In terms of energy usage, a large truck making multiple daily round-trips to the landfill represents a large use of petroleum products or other energy sources. In every metropolitan area, there are fleets of such trucks doing this. Thus, the present invention offers the ability to provide great energy savings. In addition to fuel, the environmental aspect of this is quite large. The emissions generated by a single truck may be greatly reduced by use of the present invention. Such airborne pollution is becoming a greater issue due to global warming, depletion of the ozone layer, metropolitan growth and an increased understanding of the health hazards of such air pollution.
By contrast, it should be noted that the smaller commercial waste bin (xe2x80x9cDUMPSTERxe2x80x9d) is simply lifted up by a garbage truck, the trash received, and the bin is put back down. Garbage trucks for handling of the two meter by three meter by two meter commercial waste bin may be either xe2x80x9cfront loadingxe2x80x9d in which the bin is lifted over the cab of the truck and inverted, or xe2x80x9crear-loading.xe2x80x9d The rear-load garbage truck is the familiar type of garbage truck often used in residential settings. When modified to handle a commercial waste bin, the bin is lifted at the back of the truck and the trash is transferred to the compaction blades at the back of a normal read-load garbage truck, and the bin is put back down. In addition, such trucks are covered and thus may be advantageously equipped with compaction blades. Such compaction blades are invaluable in reducing trips to the landfill: the volume of the wastes handled may be reduced by a factor of 10 to 1 or more from the volume as it is left in the trash can by the residential or commercial customer. Such compaction is obviously impossible for a hoist truck which simply carries the large trash container as it was filled by the customer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,132 issued Oct. 2, 2001 to Picker teaches a universal DUMPSTER which is usable in several different modes. It may be used as a roll-off, as a front load, carried on a trailer, etc. It teaches doors at one end and an open top. However it does not teach legs to lift the roll-off container, an internal blade to empty it, connection to a conventional rear-load truck, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,277 issued Mar. 4, 1997 to Zopf teaches a garbage can which is picked up by the waste truck. The can in the ""277 patent is emptied into an intermediate container. Again, most of the features taught by the present invention are missing from this item of prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,497 issued Jun. 27, 1995 to Dillman teaches a horizontal surge/storage silo. The structure and concept are otherwise different from the present invention: there are no hydraulic legs on the container, there is no hydraulic connection to a truck, rear-load garbage trucks may not be used, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,125 issued Sep. 20, 1994 to Stribling teaches a self contained hydraulic power unit for waste compactors. An electrical connection is made from a vehicle to the hydraulic power unit on the compactor, and the electricity used to drive the compactor. No transfer of waste is suggested, no hydraulic legs or hydraulic connection is established, and the device deals with stationary compactors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,963 issued Jun. 7, 1994 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,510 issued Jan. 28, 1992 to Hohlt teach another type of stationary compactor, seemingly in the smaller commercial size waste bin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,594 issued May 25, 1993 to Tyler et al teaches a xe2x80x9cnetworkxe2x80x9d for multiple trash compactors and measurement of pressure on the blade in order to determine fullness.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,233 issued Mar. 3, 1992 teaches the TRASH COLLECTION AND STORAGE SYSTEM which something very like an airport jetway. An indoor trash hopper or compactor feeds wastes to the conveyor system inside the device, the device itself pivots outwards from the building and may extend as well, in order to match up with a rear-load garbage truck and convey waste thereto. On the indoors side of the device, a hinged platform may be raised or lowered (see FIGS. 7A, 7B). Overall there are numerous structural and conceptual differences between this device and the present invention: lack of any roll-off container, lack of hydraulic connection to the truck, a lack of vertical adjustment (hydraulic legs) to match with the rear-load truck, the fact that this is a xe2x80x9cthrough the wallxe2x80x9d system, lack of a compaction blade as the to-truck-transfer mechanism, and so on. In addition, since this is a building waste chute rather than a mobile container, it is a different art.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,087 issued Feb. 17, 1987 to Fenner et al teaches a system for measuring fullness of a waste compactor container. Other than being an example of a container with a compactor/blade, it does not disclose features of the present invention: legs to lift the container, transfer by blade pressure to a rear-load truck, and others.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,658 issued Dec. 10, 1985 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,726 issued Feb. 8, 1983 to Lutz teach another waste compactor container, this time with two compartments for wastes. It is otherwise unrelated to the invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,787,830 issued Jan. 22, 1974 to Cato et al teaches as trap door type arrangement to indicate when a compactor/container is full of trash, and is otherwise unrelated to the invention.
It is also known in the art, though not disclosed by applicant""s search of the US PTO database of granted patents, to have a container having an ejector blade and wet line ports by which to receive hydraulic power. These devices are used in the known method of cleaning of such containers (hoisting the container onto a truck, conveying it to a land-fill facility, and raising it to let waste slide out the back). On occasion, the waste refuses to slide out the back. At that time, the ability to eject the waste by forcing the blade down the length of the container is beneficial. However, there is no known art in which the container may raise itself, nor transfer wastes to garbage truck.
It would be advantageous to allow rear-load garbage trucks, with their advantage of compaction blades, covered waste holding spaces, and flexibility to service roll-off containers. Such hoppers are capable of 10:1 compaction or more, and are equipped with blades which grab items in the hopper and pull them further in, compacting as they go. It would further be advantageous to allow service by rear-load, front-load and hoist trucks. It would further be advantageous to provide a means by which one truck could service a plurality of containers before making a round trip to the landfill. It would further be advantageous to allow transfer of wastes from containers to rear-load trucks. It would further be advantageous to avoid the nuisance and uncertainty of hoisting containers.
The present invention teaches a waste container, especially a roll-off waste container, having a gate at one end, a waste transfer system to push wastes within the container out the gate, and lifting devices which raise the container to approximately the level of a garbage truck""s hopper. The hopper may be the fixed rear hopper of a rear-load truck or a special container for a front load truck.
The present invention furthermore teaches a new system for waste handling. Wastes are placed into a container, the container is raised, and the wastes are transferred to a garbage truck.
The present invention may be used industrially, in construction, in residential settings, and commercially. The invention may be opened at sides or tops to meet the user""s waste disposal needs, and may be connected to a building by a trash chute. The legs, gate, and transfer device may be hydraulically actuated, electrical, or may be actuated in other ways.
Allowing servicing of roll-off containers by conventional garbage trucks as several advantages: it reduces the number of special roll-off hoist trucks required, it allows the garbage trucks to compact the wastes after transfer and it permits covered carrying of waste loads without special equipment.
The apparatus may be actuated by being hooked to the hydraulic supply of the servicing truck, or from another nearby source, or it may have a self-contained power supply. A valve body mounted on the side of the apparatus, or a remote control device, may be used for control of operations.
The apparatus may advantageously be substantially the same width as the hopper of a rear-load garbage truck.
The invention may also replace known compactors in use by large commercial establishments, either free-standing compactors, or compactors attached to buildings, due to the fact that the invention also has compactor embodiments.
The invention may also advantageously comprise a transfer station. In this embodiment of the invention, waste may be transferred from other containers or from garbage trucks to the container of the invention, where it may be stored pending servicing of the invention and transfer to a land-fill facility.
It is one objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a method of loading waste to the hopper of a garbage truck, comprising the steps of:
a) allowing waste to be placed into a waste container having a body and having at least one lifting device and further having at least one end;
b) raising the waste container by means of the at least one lifting device to approximately the level of the hopper; and
c) transferring the waste to the hopper.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a method of loading waste wherein the lifting device comprises at least one extendable leg.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a method of loading waste wherein the extendable leg is hydraulically actuated.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a method of loading waste wherein the waste container further comprises a hydraulic connection from the garbage truck, and wherein the hydraulic actuation of the extendable leg is accomplished by supplying fluid and pressure through the hydraulic connection from the garbage truck.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a method of loading waste wherein the extendable leg is electrically actuated.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a method of loading waste wherein the waste container further comprises roll-on/roll-off equipment.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a method of loading waste wherein the waste container further comprises a transfer device suitable for carrying out the step of transferring the waste to the hopper.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a method of loading waste wherein the waste container further comprises a gate at one end of the waste container and further wherein the transfer device further comprises a actuated blade dimensioned and configured so as to force waste within the waste container out through the gate when the hydraulically actuated blade is activated.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a method of loading waste further comprising the step of:
d) compacting the waste in the garbage truck.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a method of loading waste wherein the step of raising the waste container further comprises raising one end of the waste container.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a method of loading waste wherein the step of raising the waste container further comprises raising all of the body of the waste container.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a method wherein the step of allowing waste to be placed within the container further comprises placing such waste in the waste container from a source selected from the group consisting of: smaller waste containers, garbage cans, commercial waste containers, rear-load garbage trucks, front-load garbage trucks, hoppers, waste receptacles, and combinations thereof.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a waste container for use with the waste receptacle of a garbage truck, the waste container comprising:
a body; and
at least one lifting device capable of raising at least one end of the container to approximately the level of the waste receptacle and capable of lowering the waste to approximately ground level.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a waste container wherein the garbage truck further comprises a rear-load garbage truck and wherein the waste receptacle further comprises the hopper of the garbage truck.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a waste container wherein the garbage truck further comprises a front-load garbage truck and wherein the waste receptacle further comprises an open-topped waste container.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a waste container wherein the lifting device comprises at least one extendable leg.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a waste container further comprising: a spot mirror located so as to allow a driver of a truck to monitor waste within the container.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a waste container further comprising:
at least one remote receiver used to control operations of the invention from a remote location.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a waste container wherein the width of the body is approximately equal to the width of such waste receptacle of such garbage truck.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a waste container wherein the width of the body is in the range from 36 to 98 inches, preferably in the range from 60 to 84 inches, most preferably in the range from 70 to 72 inches.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a waste container further comprising:
a gate dimensioned and configured so as to both swing open horizontally and slide open vertically.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a waste container further comprising:
a hydraulic gate cylinder operatively connected to the gate and dimensioned and configured so as to force the gate open vertically when the hydraulic gate cylinder is actuated.
It is yet another objective, embodiment, aspect and advantage of the present invention to provide a waste compactor for use with the waste receptacle of a garbage truck, the waste compactor comprising:
a body;
a compaction device; and
at least one lifting device capable of raising at least one end of the compactor to approximately the level of the waste receptacle and capable of lowering the waste compactor to approximately ground level.